Railway-gate.



PATENTED APR. 30, 1907. W. L. SMYTH.

RAILWAY GATE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

v atto'rmugo PATENTED APR. 30, 1907.

'W. L. SMYTH. RAILWAY GATE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\VILLIE L. SMYTI-I, OF DUDLEYVILLE, ALABAMA.

RAILWAY-GATE.

are. 852,354.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 30, 1907.

Application filed September 19, 1906. Serial No. 335,300.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIE L. SMYTII, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dudleyville in the county of Tallapoosa and State ofAlabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailwayGates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention contemplates certain new and useful improvements in thatclass of railway gates which are designed to be automatically actuatedto swing open upon the pas sage of a train over the rails adjacent tothe gates, the said gates being held open while the train is passingthrough the gateway and being automatically returned to the closedposition as soon as the train shall have left the gates a predetermineddistance in the rear.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an improved automaticrailway gate of this type which will be sure and efficient in operation;which will embody few and simple parts that may be readily constructedand durable, and which will further embody an automatically actuateddoor between the rails arranged to be operated simultaneously with thegates as the latter are opened and closed, and intended to fill up thespace between the rails when the gates are in closed position so as toprevent the smaller animals from passing underneath the gates.

\Vith this and other objects in view as will more fully appear as thedescription 'procoeds, the invention consists in certain constructions,arrangements and combinations of the parts hereinafter described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and alsoto acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means foreffecting the result, reference is to be had to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved railway gate. Fig. 2 is atop plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sec tional view, thesection being taken between the rails and one gate being shown in openposition.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

The supporting frame work of my improved gates comprises side sills 1ranging alongside of the track, and cross sills 2 sei latch 20 isprovided with a vertical slot cured to and supported upon the side sillsat the ends and passing underneath the rails as shown. The fence posts 3which are preferably of steel or similar strong material are securelybolted at their bases to the side sills l and preferably extend belowsaid. side sills a suflicient distance to be securely embedded in theearth. They are preferably strengthened by means of braces t securedthereto near their upper ends and extending obliquely as shown andsecured also to the 1 cross sills at a sufficient distance from therails so as to interfere in no wise with the proper running of thetrain. The gate pintles 5 extend vertically and turn in a horizontalplane in suitable hangers embedded in the posts, and the gate frames 6,preferably of steel are embedded or otherwise rigidly secured to thepintles 5 and they may be filled up with mesh 7 of either straight orbarbed formation.

Miter segments 8 are rigidly secured to the pintles 5 and mesh withsubstantially similar segments 9 secured to the ends of an actuatingshaft 10. This shaft is journaled in suitable metallio bearings inblocks 11, which are secured to crossties outside of the rails and arepreferably provided with depending portions 12 so as to fit snuglybetween the cross ties. The shaft 10 is provided near one line of railswith a crank 13 carrying a wrist pin 14. This pin works in a slot 15formed in a link 16, and said link is secured to and between the mcetingends of two oppositely extending actuating bars 17 that extend away fromthe gates a predetermined distance and are pivoted at their outer endsto securing blocks 18. These blocks extend across two adjacent crossties and are securely spiked or bolted thereto. The actuating bars 17extend close to the rails at one side of the track in position to beactuated by the flanges of the car wheels, as the train passes over thissection of the track, and a spring or springs 19 are arranged as shownso as to serve the purpose of returning the actuating bars 17 to theirnormal position after they have been depressed by the passage of thetrain. A latch 20 is pivotally secured to one of these actuating bars 17and is provided with a notch 21 designed to receive the lower edge ofone of the gates so as to lock the gates closed, with a pin 21" servingas a stop to limit the movement of the gates in one direc'-' The tion,that is, when they are closed.

and a pin 23 works in said slot and is secured to the inner face of thebar 12 which carries the latch and a spring 24 serves to hold the latchin the uppermost position with respect to the actuating bar whichcarries it. Hence by this arrangement, the latch may yield when thegates close so as to allow one of the gates to ride into the notch 21.Then the actuating bars 12 are depressed, the pin 23 will cause thelatch to move downwardly with the bars so as to free the gates. As thelink 16 is provided with the slot it is evident that the actuating bars17 may be moved downwardly for the initial portion of their swingwithout effecting the shaft or other actuating parts of the gate,this'initial movement being provided for so as to effect the unlockingof the gates before they are swung or moved toward their outer or openpositions.

A door extends transversely between the rails and underneath the gates,and is preferably hinged at one edge to supporting arms 26 which arerigidly fastened to and ex tend from one of the cross ties.- A crank 27on the actuating shaft 10 is connected by means of a link 28 to the door25, and consequently the door will be swung downwardly to open positionwhen the gates are swung open, and will conversely be raised so as toclose the space between the rails when the gates are closed.

In describing the practical operation of my improved automatic railwaygate, it will be assumed that the gates are in their closed positions.As a train approaches the gates from either one direction or the other,the flanges of the wheels will ride upon one actuating bar or the otherand cause said bars to, move downwardly. This will result in moving thelink 16 downwardly without at first affecting the actuating shaft 10 andwill ac complish the downward movement of the latch 20 so as to free thegates. In the continued downward movement of the actuating bars 17 theupper end of the slot 15 in the link 16 will bring up against the wristpin 14 and thereupon the shaft 10 will be turned and the gates will beopened and the door 25 depressed. As soon as the train shall have movedoff of the section of the track where the latch bars 17 are located, thesprings 19 will raise the bars again and return the parts to the normalclosed position.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be seen that I have provided a simple and efficientconstruction of automatic railway gate which will effectually maintainthe track closed until the train approaches from either direction andwhich provides efficient -means for the automatic actuation by the trainof the gate operating devices so that the gates will open and the doorbetween the rails will be simultaneously opened and closed so Havingthus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An automatic railway gate comprising a gate arranged to swing acrossand away from the track, actuating bars adapted to be depressed by thepassage of a car along the track, means whereby the depressing of saidbars will open the gate, a latch carried by one of said bars and adaptedto engage the gate, the latch being moved out of engagement with thegate when the bar that carries it is depressed, and means whereby theinitial movement of said bars is independent of any movement of thegate.

2. An automatic railway gate, comprising a gate arranged to swing acrossand away from the track, actuating bars adapted to be depressed by thepassage of a car along the track, means whereby the depressing of saidbars will open the gate, a latch carried by one of said bars and adaptedto engage the lower edge of the gate, said latch being spring pressed oryielding, and means whereby the initial movement of said bars will carrythe latch out of engagement with the gate and impart no movement to thegate.

3. In an automatic railway gate, the combination with a gate arranged toswing across and away from the track, an actuating shaft thereforprovided with a crank and a wrist pin secured on said crank, ofactuating bars adapted to be depressed by the passage of a car along thetrack, a link secured to said bars and provided with a slot receivingsaid wrist pin, and a latch carried by one of said bars and arranged toengage the gate to hold the same closed, the pin and slot connectionbetween the crank and link permitting the initial movement of the barsto unlatch the gate before the link will move the crank and turn theshaft.

4. In an automatic railway gate, the combination with the gate arrangedto be swung across and away from the track, of an actuating shaftoperatively connected to said gate to move the same, said shaft beingprovided with a crank, a link provided with a 'slot, a wrist pin securedto said crank and working within said slot, oppositely extendingactuating bars both secured to said link and extending alongside one ofthe track rails in position to be depressed by the flange of the carwheel, a latch pivotally secured to one of said actuating bars andprovided with a slot, a spring for holding said latch elevated inposition to engage the gate, and a pin secured to the actuating barwhich carries the latch, said pin working in the slot' of said latch,for the purpose specified.

5. In an automatic railway gate, the combination with the gate arrangedto swing across and away from the track, of automatically actuatingmeans for the said gate, said means including a shaft, a door pivoted atits lower edge between the rails, a crank secured to said shaft, and alink connected to said door, and to said crank as and for the purposeset forth.

6. An automatic railway gate, comprising a supporting frame workembodying side sills and cross sills secured together, gate postssupported on said side sills, gates mounted to swing in a horizontalplane and provided with pintles having a pivotal connection with saidpost, miter segments secured to said pintles, a shaft extendingtransversely of the track underneath therails, bearing blocks supportedbetween adjacent cross ties and in which said shaft is journaled, mitersegments secured to said shaft and meshing with the first namedsegments, a crank secured to said shaft and provided with a wrist pin, alink provided with a slot receiving said wrist pin, oppositely extendingactuating bars arranged alongside of one of the track rails andconnected at their meeting ends to said link, said bars being pivotallymounted at their opposite ends and being adapted to be depressed by theflange of a car wheel, a spring designed to return said bars to theirnormal raised positions, a latch pivotally connected to one of said barsand provided with a notch designed for engagement with the lower edge ofone of said gates, said latch being also provided with a slot, a pinprojecting from one of the actuating bars and working in said slot, anda spring arranged to swing said latch upwardly with respect to theactuating bars.

In testimony whereof I ailiX my signature in presence of two witnesses,

WILLIE L SMYTH.

\Vitnesses A. A. SMITH, DAVID HENDERSON.

